you are so sweet. it’s okay. you’re getting kissed bc I love answering questions when it’s not things that are going to be covered later or i am writing as a side thing.

The name is based off some research (lite) we did on how drugs are named, which is mostly after how they affect the body. We knew what the drug was going to do first, which was… tbh, just a horny plot device to jog the boys along lmao. Then we went and looked up various drug families that would do something similar enough to make it plausible.

So breaking it down piece by piece:

The Quinu- is based on a drug we found that the military uses as a sort of truth serum, which causes delirium, cognitive dysfunction, and occasionally hallucinations, which is delightfully fucked up.

The -barb- is taken from the class of drugs known as barbiturates, which are another class of truth serum due to decreasing inhibitions/the compulsion to answer questions, along with some other fun side effects such as: decreasing the effects of birth control! Fun!

And the -axine is the affix that indicates serotonin and dopamine inhibitors, which would increase the drive to seek out touch/reassurance which are kind of important during an induced Heat.

bear in mind i did not go to med school. i am not smart enough to like, know if these are even close to their actual uses or if i am wildly off base with all of them. we needed a drug name that sounded official/scientific enough that it would be plausible since Goro is enough of a jackass to not use the colloquial name we came up with, which was simmer and is objectively Way Cooler.

hi!

so Goro’s ‘training’ slash style is… weird. he’s got this offputting mix of instinct and almost perfect form, and it’s strange enough that it’s hard to counter unless you really know what you’re doing, since it’s a coin flip whether he’ll actually use a move that’s from training or if he’ll just use his sword like a knife and stab or just. straight up claw at the eyes.

he started off by watching the soldiers drill and attempting to copy them while they did and sometimes one of them would come by and correct his stance or give a scrap of throwaway advice. when he was very little, the moment he could actually drag a sword around he was, and it kind of went from there. Every day he’d be down there until he couldn’t move anymore and then he’d kind of haul himself to the library to read more about how to Go Longer (in between featherman chapters of course).

anything he didn’t learn from the soldiers has been supplemented with an instinct-based drive for fighting. Since he tends to act as a berserker when he’s in full blown battle mode, he’s less rigid and more just. feral beast. and that does tend to win more often than not!

as for Akira:

he’s been trained to be a spy essentially from childhood. it was disguised as etiquette lessons that evolved over time as he got older. he learned more lethal tactics at 15, and that’s the age you can join the Southern Army so Akira served as a spy master for roughly two years on and off the field. he’d return to the Empress with news or confirmed movements. Akira has killed during his time as a spy, though toward the end of his stint in the army. He was pulled from frontline activity around 17, and his last year was spent as the Empress’ Shadow. Spy, Assassin, eyes and ears where no one would notice it.

His mother’s intentions were to have him build connections with suitors, like she had in her past, and choose his favorite but when he rejected all opportunities to pursue further than allies, she grew fearful he’d never settle, that she trained him too well as a tool. So she made a decision for him based on what she thought he’d like… and the rest is history.

hi! i’ll have to double check if it’s been elaborated on in the past or if I just imagined that in my brain, but the hand squeezes are a holdover from something Goro used to do with his mother. it’s a quick one-two squeeze that’s basically a silent reassurance:

I’m here.

a reassurance that the other won’t leave despite everything, that anything that comes their way will be weathered together. Goro didn’t do it much pre-Akira, since 1. he had no one he trusted enough to hold hands with and 2. it was very much something he did with his mother.

now things have changed, though, and both the boys know what it means and its significance. you’ll probably be seeing it a lot more in the future!

hi!

so Akira is a basic bitch and he just likes curry. Sojiro’s curry, to be exact, and that’s his favorite food.

Goro, on his end, eats food for fuel and that’s the that on that…. Except that it isn’t (: he widely prefers things he can snack on and idly eat while he’s working. lots of dried meat, breads, things he can carry in one hand and scarf down while he’s going from place to place. he’s very much about convenience over taste, though when he was younger his favorite thing was to carry around a cup of cubed cheeses and eat it while watching the Knights train.

as for when he sits down and eats… he doesn’t like anything that’s too heavy or rich. lighter meals are ideal, though he could not tell you what his favorite of those is.